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Point of Terror (1971)

Plot: Tony Trelos (Peter Carpenter) loves to put on a red, fringe outfit and sing his heart out. When he isn’t performing at the Lobster House (twice a night) and wearing nut hugging pants, Tony loves to romance the ladies. But he is after more than a good time, as he wants a woman to advance his career and provide him a lavish lifestyle. He gets his best chance with Andrea (Dyanne Thorne), who is fed up with her husband’s jealousy and overall lack of sex. Her husband is in a wheelchair thanks to some moment of jealousy, but his money overrides his lesser qualities. Once she meets Tony, she decides the time for Professor Xavier has passed and murders him, unaware that Tony was there. Now things spiral into a pulse pounding thrill ride like no other. Or you know, Tony moves on to a new woman and keeps wearing overly tight pants. Will he be doomed to perform two shows a night forever, or does fate have more in store for Tony Trelos?

Entertainment Value: All of the marketing materials for Point of Terror sell the movie as a horror film. This couldn’t be much further from the truth, unless lounge music gives you jump scares. Instead it plays like a drama with some thriller elements, with tension ramping up toward the close. The movie is more fun than it should be, thanks to Peter Carpenter’s signature style performance. Carpenter has such an odd presence in movies and its a shame he didn’t make more than he did. Point of Terror moves at a nice pace, but this is not wall to wall lunacy or action. The film has some slow stretches, but its hard to get bored with terrible lounge music and Carpenter’s strange performance. But if you come into Point of Terror with horror in mind, you’ll be disappointed.

Despite the lack of horror themes, Point of Terror does deliver a couple poorly crafted moments of violence. Not much blood, but it does add some entertainment and who doesn’t love a woman playing matador against a man in a wheelchair? Ole! There is also some nudity, both from a couple women and a long, lingering shot of Carpenter’s ass. I should also note his pants are so tight at times, it is essentially full frontal. The dialogue has its moments, but is mostly straight forward and not too off the wall. But of course, Carpenter’s read is sure to spruce up even mundane lines. Point of Terror is an odd duck, but not really that insane overall. You can also usually find it on double feature releases, so even with its flaws, Point of Terror at least deserves a fair trial.